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4. What was the main difference between the popular struggles in Nepal and Bolivia?
i. The movement in Nepal was to establish democracy, while the struggle in Bolivia
involved claims on an elected, democratic government.
ii. The popular struggle in Bolivia was about one specific policy, while the struggle in
Nepal was about the foundations of the countrys politics. Both these struggles were
successful but their impact was at different levels.
iii. The popular struggle in Nepal was against Constitutional monarchy and to establish a
democratic Government. The popular struggle in Bolivia was against a Government
policy, privatization of water supply.
5. What was the Second Movement of Democracy in Nepal? Or Describe the features
of the popular mass struggle for restoring democracy in Nepal.
i. It was a movement started by all the major political parties in the parliament by forming
a Seven Party Alliance. It was aimed at regaining popular control over the government
from the king and restoring democracy.
ii. It started with a four-day strike in Kathmandu, the countrys capital. This protest soon
turned into an indefinite strike in which Maoist insurgents and various other
organizations joined hands.
iii. On 21 April, they served an ultimatum to the king. They stuck to their demand for
restoration of parliament, power to an all-party government and a new constituent
assembly.
iv. On 24 April 2006, the last day of the ultimatum, the king was forced to concede all the
three demands.
v. The SPA chose Girija Prasad Koirala as the new Prime Minister of the interim
government. The restored parliament met and passed laws taking away most of the
powers of the king.
vi. The SPA and the Maoists came to an understanding about how the new Constituent
Assembly was going to be elected. This struggle came to be known as Nepals second
movement for democracy.
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6. How did King Gyanendra gain power in Nepal?
i. King Birendra, of Nepal was killed in a mysterious massacre of the royal family in 2001.
ii. King Gyanendra, the new king of Nepal, was not prepared to accept democratic rule. He
took advantage of the weakness and unpopularity of the democratically elected
government.
iii. In February 2005, the king dismissed the then Prime Minister and dissolved the
popularly elected Parliament.
7. What was Bolivias water war? Or Describe the features of the popular struggle
against privatization of water in Bolivia.
i. Bolivia is a poor country in Latin America. The World Bank pressurized the government
to give up its control of municipal water supply.
ii. The government sold these rights for the city of Cochabamba to a multi-national
company (MNC). The company immediately increased the price of water by four times.
iii. Many people received monthly water bill of Rs 1000 in a country where average income
is around Rs 5000 a month. This led to a spontaneous popular protest.
iv. In January 2000, a new alliance of labour, human rights and community leaders
organized a successful four-day general strike in the city. The government agreed to
negotiate and the strike was called off. Yet nothing happened.
v. The police resorted to brutal repression when the agitation was started again in February.
Another strike followed in April and the government imposed martial law. But the
power of the people forced the officials of the MNC to flee the city and made the
government concede to all the demands of the protesters.
vi. The contract with the MNC was cancelled and water supply was restored to the
municipality at old rates. This came to be known as Bolivias water war.
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10. Describe the forms of relationship between pressure groups and political parties.
i. In some instances, the pressure groups are either formed or led by the leaders of political
parties or act as extended arms of political parties. For example, most trade unions and
students organizations in India are either established by or affiliated to one or the other
major political party. Most of the leaders of such pressure groups are usually party
activists and leaders of party.
ii. Sometimes political parties grow out of movements. For example, when the Assam
movement led by students against the foreigners ended, it led to the formation of the
Asom Gana Parishad, a political party.
iii. In most cases, the relationship between parties and interest or movement groups is not so
direct. They often take positions that are opposed to each other. Yet they are in dialogue
and negotiation. Movement groups have raised new issues that have been taken up by
political parties. Most of the new leadership of political parties comes from interest or
movement groups.
11. Explain how the activities of pressure groups are useful in the functioning of a
democratic government.
i. Pressure groups and movements deepened democracy. Putting pressure on the rulers is
not an unhealthy activity in a democracy as long as everyone gets this opportunity.
Governments can often come under undue pressure from a small group of rich and
powerful people.
ii. Public interest groups and movements perform a useful role of countering this undue
influence and reminding the government of the needs and concerns of ordinary citizens.
iii. Even the sectional interest groups play a valuable role. Where different groups function
actively, no one single group can achieve dominance over society. If one group brings
pressure on government to make policies in its favour, another will bring counter
pressure not to make policies in the way the first group desires. The government gets to
hear about what different sections of the population want. This leads to a rough balance
of power and accommodation of conflicting interests.
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iii. Political parties seek to implement their policies by winning popular support through
elections and to form a new Government, whereas pressure groups want to influence the
existing government to fulfill their objective.
iv. Political parties have to face the people in elections, but pressure groups are not
accountable to the people.
v. Pressure groups and movements may not get their funds and support from the people as
political parties get.
vi. A pressure group is a temporary set up where as political parties are permanent set up.
14. Differentiate between sectional interest groups and public interest groups. ( Describe
any two features each of sectional and promotional pressure groups in India)
i. Usually interest groups seek to promote the interests of a particular section or group of
society. Trade unions, business associations, and professional (lawyers, doctors,
teachers, etc.) bodies are some examples of this type. Public interest group represent
some common or general interest that needs to be defended. The members of the
organization may not benefit from the cause that the organization represents.
ii. Sectional Interest groups are sectional because they represent a section of society:
workers, employees, businessmen, industrialists, followers of a religion, caste group, etc.
Their principal concern is the betterment and well-being of their members, not society in
general.
iii. Public interest group promote collective rather than selective good. They aim to help
groups other than their own members. For example, a group fighting against bonded
labour fights not for itself but for those who are suffering under such bondage.
iv. Public interest group represent some common or general interests that needs to be
defended. The members of the organization may not benefit from the cause that the
organization represents.
15. State an example of single-issue movement each from India and abroad.
i. The Nepalese movement for democracy arose with the specific objective of reversing the
kings orders that led to suspension of democracy is a single-issue movement abroad.
ii. In India, Narmada Bachao Andolan is a good example of this kind of movement. The
movement started with the specific issue of the people displaced by the creation of
Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada River. Its objective was to stop the dam from being
constructed. Gradually it became a wider movement that questioned all such big dams
and the model of development that required such dams.
What was the objective of Narmada Bachao Andolan? (Answer Point ii above)
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17. What conclusions can we draw from the Bolivian war, and movement of democracy in
Nepal? ( Justify in three points that democracy evolves through popular struggles.)
i. Democracy evolves through popular struggles. eg. Nepal and Bolivia. It is possible that
some significant decisions may take place through consensus and may not involve any
conflict at all. But that would be an exception.
ii. Democratic conflict is resolved through mass mobilization. Sometimes it is possible that
the conflict is resolved by using the existing institutions like the parliament or the
judiciary.
iii. These conflicts and mobilizations are based on new political organizations. True, there is
an element of spontaneity in all such historic moments. But the spontaneous public
participation becomes effective with the help of organized politics. There can be many
agencies of organized politics. These include political parties, pressure groups and
movement groups.
18. Is the influence of pressure groups and movements on politics and democracy healthy?
i. It is not healthy always to influence politics and democracy by a pressure group that
protects sectional interests. They may wield power with out responsibilities.
ii. Pressure groups with small public support, but lots of money can hijack public
opinion in favour of their narrow agenda.
iii. But it is said that pressure groups and movements have deepened democracy. Putting
pressure on rulers is not an unhealthy activity always in democracy as long as every
one gets this opportunity.
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Chapter 6 POLITICAL PARTIES
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5. Who is a partisan?
Partisan is a person who is strongly committed to a party, group or faction. Partisanship is
marked by a tendency to take a side and inability to take a balanced view on an issue.
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iv. Indian National Congress (I) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) are examples of
national parties and Telugu Desom of Andhra Pradesh and Akali Dal of Punjab are
examples of regional parties.
12. What are the various challenges faced by political parties in India?
i. The first challenge is lack of internal democracy within parties. All over the world,
there is a tendency in political parties towards the concentration of power in one or few
leaders at the top. Parties do not keep membership registers, do not hold organizational
meetings, and do not conduct internal elections regularly. Ordinary members of the party
do not get sufficient information on what happens inside the party. They do not have the
means or the connections needed to influence the decisions. As a result, the leaders
assume greater power to make decisions in the name of the party.
ii. Dynastic succession: Since most political parties do not practice open and transparent
procedures for their functioning, there no ways for an ordinary worker to rise to the top
in a party. Those who happen to be the leaders are in a position of unfair advantage to
favour people close to them or even their family members. In many parties, the top
positions are always controlled by members of one family. This is unfair to other
members of that party. This is also bad for democracy, since people who do not have
adequate experience or popular support come to occupy positions of power.
iii. The third challenge is about the growing role of money and muscle power in parties,
especially during elections. Since parties are focused only on winning elections, they
tend to use short-cuts to win elections. They tend to nominate those candidates who have
or who can raise lots of money. Rich people and companies who give funds to the parties
tend to have influence on the policies and decisions of the party. In some cases, parties
support criminals who can win elections.
iv. The fourth challenge is that very often parties do not seem to offer a meaningful choice
to the voters. In order to offer meaningful choice, parties must be significantly different.
In recent years, there has been a decline in the ideological differences among parties in
most parts of the world. For example, the difference between the Labour Party and the
Conservative Party in Britain is very little.
13. Explain the increasing role of money and muscle power in politics.
( Answer point iii above)
14. What is meant by dynastic succession in politics? (Answer point ii above)
15. What do you mean by lack of internal democracy in politics? ( Point i above)
16. What is meant by defection in politics?
It is the changing of party allegiance from the party on which a person got elected to a
different party. It is now banned by the Anti Defection law.
17. Suggest some reforms to strengthen parties so that they perform their functions well.
i. A law should be made to regulate the internal affairs of political parties. It should be
made compulsory for political parties to maintain a register of its members, to follow its
own constitution, to have an independent authority, to act as a judge in case of party
disputes, and to hold open elections to the highest posts.
ii. It should be made mandatory for political parties to give a minimum number of tickets,
about one-third, to women candidates. Similarly, there should be a quota for women in
the decision making bodies of the party.
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iii. There should be state funding of elections. The government should give parties money to
support their election expenses. This support could be given in kind: petrol, paper,
telephone etc. Or it could be given in cash on the basis of the votes secured by the party
in the last election.
18. What are the measures taken by the Government to reform political parties and its
leaders?
i. The Constitution was amended to prevent elected MLAs and MPs from changing parties.
Now the law says that if any MLA or MP changes parties, he or she will lose the seat in
the legislature according to the Anti-Defection Law.
ii. The Supreme Court passed an order to reduce the influence of money and criminals.
Now, it is mandatory for every candidate who contests elections to file an affidavit
giving details of his property and that no criminal cases pending against him.
iii. The Election Commission passed an order making it necessary for political parties to
hold their organizational elections and file their income tax returns.
19. Why did India follow a multi party system?
India has evolved a multi-party system, because the social and geographical diversity in such
a large country is not easily absorbed by two or even three parties.
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Chapter 7 OUTCOMES OF DEMOCRACY
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8. What is transparency in democracy?
Democracy ensures that decision-making will be based on norms and procedures.
Therefore, a citizen who wants to know if a decision was taken through the correct
procedures can find this out. He has the right and the means to examine the process of
decision-making. This is known as transparency.
9. What do you expect from democracy when we try to find the out comes of democracy?
When we are trying to find out the outcomes of democracy, it is right to expect
democracy to produce a government that follows procedures and is accountable to the
people. We can also expect that the democratic governments develop mechanisms for
citizens to hold the governments accountable and mechanisms for citizens to take part in
decision making whenever they think fit.
10. What are the practices and institutions to measure democracies on the basis of the
expected outcome?
Regular, free and fair elections, open public debate on major policies and legislations,
and citizens right to information about the government and its functioning are the
practices and institutions to measure democracies on the basis of the expected outcome.
11. What is the most basic outcome of democracy?
It gives us a government which is accountable, legitimate and responsive to the needs of
the people.
12. What are the factors on which economic development of a country depend?
Countrys population, size, global situation, cooperation from other countries, economic
priorities adopted by the country, etc. are the factors on which economic development of
a country depend.
13. What is the significant difference in the rate of economic development between
countries under dictatorship and democracy?
If you consider all democracies and all dictatorships for the fifty years between 1950 and
2000, dictatorships have slightly higher rate of economic growth. The inability of
democracy to achieve higher economic development worries us.
14. How does democracy help reduce inequality and poverty?
i. Economic inequality and poverty are the twin problems of India. Different political
parties are committed to remove these since it is included in their election manifesto.
They are responsive to the needs of the people. The elected Government from time to
time started a number of poverty alleviation programmes to reduce poverty in India.
ii. More over many employment schemes like Rural Works Programme, National Rural
Employment Programme etc. are started by democratic Government in India.
15. What are the conditions under which democracies accommodate social diversities?
i. It is necessary to understand that democracy is not simply a rule by majority opinion.
The majority always needs to work with the minority so that governments function to
represent the general view. Majority and minority opinions are not permanent.
ii. It is also necessary that rule by majority does not become rule by majority community in
terms of religion or race or linguistic group, etc. Rule by majority means that in case of
every decision or in case of every election, different persons and groups may and can
form a majority. Democracy remains democracy only as long as every citizen has a
chance of being in majority at some point of time. If someone is barred from being in
majority on the basis of birth, then the democratic rule ceases to be accommodative for
that person or group.
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16. How are social diversities accommodated in democracies? Or How does democracy
lead to peaceful and harmonious life among citizens?
i. No society can fully and permanently resolve conflicts among different groups.
However, we can certainly learn to respect these differences and we can also evolve
mechanisms to negotiate the differences. Democracy is best suited to produce this
outcome.
ii. Non-democratic regimes often turn a blind eye to or suppress internal social differences.
Ability to handle social differences, divisions and conflicts is thus a definite plus point of
democratic Government.
iii. Social diversities can be accommodated by deliberation, negotiation, and mutual
understanding.
iv. It can be accommodated by power sharing as in the case of Belgium.
17. How do expectation from democracy function as the criterion for judging a democratic
country? ( The fact that people are complaining itself is a testimony of the success of
democracy. Justify the statement with three appropriate points.
i. As people get some benefits of democracy, they ask for more and want to make
democracy even better. That is why when we ask people about the way democracy
functions, they will always come up with more expectations, and many complaints.
ii. The fact that people are complaining itself is a testimony to the success of democracy: it
shows that people have developed awareness and the ability to expect and to look
critically at power holders and the high and the mighty.
iii. A public expression of dissatisfaction with democracy shows the success of the
democratic project: it transforms people from the status of a subject under a King into
that of a citizen.
iv. Most individuals today believe that their vote makes a difference to the way the
government is run and to their own self-interest.
18. What are the expected outcomes of democracy?
i. It helps to form an accountable, responsive and legitimate Government.
ii. It brings economic growth and development.
iii. It helps to reduce inequality and poverty in society. .
iv. It allows to accommodate social diversity.
v. It upholds dignity and freedom of citizens. ( Explain points)
19. Examine with the help of three examples, how dignity and freedom of citizens are best
guaranteed in a democracy.
i. In a democratic country people have the freedom to choose their representatives on the
basis of universal adult franchise.
ii. Most societies across the world were historically male dominated. Equal treatment of
women became the necessary requirement of a democratic society. Thus, their status in
democratic countries improved.
iii. In a non-democratic setup, there is no legal basis for freedom and dignity of individuals.
Democracy in India has strengthened the claims of the disadvantaged and discriminated
castes for equal status and equal opportunity.
iv. Democracy transforms people from the status of subjects under a king or a dictator to the
status of citizens with rights and duties. Many Fundamental rights are granted to citizens
in a democratic country. One such right is the right to freedom, which is a cluster of many
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rights like freedom to travel anywhere, freedom to assemble anywhere, freedom to choose
any profession, to choose any religion etc.
20. Do democracies lead to a just distribution of goods and opportunities? Justify your
answer by three suitable arguments
a) Yes. Democracies can lead to a just distribution of goods and opportunities in due
course. However the first step towards thinking carefully about the outcomes of
democracy is to recognise that democracy is just a form of government. It can only create
conditions for achieving something. The citizens have to take advantage of those
conditions and achieve those goals.
b) Democracies are based on political equality. All individuals have equal weight in electing
representatives. Parallel to the process of bringing individuals into the political arena on
an equal footing, we find growing economic inequalities. A small number of ultra-rich
enjoy a highly disproportionate share of wealth and incomes. Not only that, their share in
the total income of the country has been increasing. However a democratic government
launch various schemes to uplift the poor.
c) Those at the bottom of the society have very little to depend upon. Their incomes have
been declining. Sometimes they find it difficult to meet their basic needs of life, such as
food, clothing, house, education and health. However democratic government provide
them opportunities by giving concessions, grants, and reservations.
d) In actual life, democracies do not appear to be very successful in reducing economic
inequalities. The poor constitute a large proportion of our voters and no party will like to
lose their votes. There fore they are forced to address grievances of the poor.
21. Democracy is a good form of government in principle not in reality. Explain.
Write answer 1 or 18 and explain the drawbacks also like.
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Chapter - 8 CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY
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democratic practice. The most important concern should be to increase and improve the
quality of political participation by ordinary citizens.
iv. Any proposal for political reforms should think not only about what is a good solution
but also about who will implement it and how. It is not very wise to think that the
legislatures will pass legislations that go against the interest of all the political parties
and MPs. But measures that rely on democratic movements, citizens organizations and
the media are likely to succeed.
7. Write the expanded definition of democracy.
i. Democracy is a form of government in which the rulers are elected by the people.
ii. The rulers elected by the people must take all the major decisions;
iii. Elections must offer a choice and fair opportunity to the people to change the current
rulers;
iv. This choice and opportunity should be available to all the people on an equal basis; and
v. The exercise of this choice must lead to a government limited by basic rules of the
constitution and citizens rights.
8. Discuss the expanded scope of democracy in the modern world.
i. Democratic rights are not limited to the right to vote, stand in elections and form
political organizations. Democracy should offer to its citizens some social and economic
rights.
ii. Power sharing is the spirit of democracy. Power sharing between governments and social
groups is necessary in a democracy.
iii. The scope of democracy has gone beyond the government and its activities to
eliminating discrimination based on caste, religion and gender.
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UNIT IV
ECONOMICS
PREPARED BY
NARAYANAN MANNANDI
THE INDIAN SCHOOL, BAHRAIN
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